Roof opening systems in the form of, e.g., sliding sunroofs or spoiler roofs of motor vehicles contain roof frame components or sliding roof frames, which are made of steel, for example, and which are of high strength and, when installed in the vehicle roof structure, can increase the strength of the vehicle body. However, a roof frame component of this type made of steel material has a relatively heavy weight. Although the weight of such a roof frame component can be reduced by using plastic, such as a thermoplastic, for example, in place of steel, a bulkier design is then required to achieve the necessary strength; however, this is not feasible due to the limited installation space in the vehicle roof.
A roof frame component known from DE 40 12 635 A1 contains a basic frame structure made of plastic, which has reinforcement plates in high load areas. Although such metallic reinforcement plates can increase the strength of the roof frame component, they counteract the weight savings achieved by using plastic.